The Victorian Government’s announcement late yesterday that it was severing ties with “Safe Schools” founder, Roz Ward, does nothing to allay parents’ concern with the controversial gender ideology program, warns the Australian Christian Lobby.

ACL Managing Director Lyle Shelton said the program continued to be dangerously flawed and the Government’s decision to take over the delivery of the program from La Trobe University meant children would continue to be taught that their gender is a social construct with nothing to do with their chromosomes.

“If the Victorian Government was serious about protecting children from dangerous gender theory it would not stop at removing Roz Ward, it would stop encouraging vulnerable children to head down a pathway that could lead to irreversible surgery of their genitals and breasts,” Mr Shelton said.

Mr Shelton expressed concern that Ms Ward’s removal may have more to do with protecting the same-sex marriage campaign which aims to remove gender from the Marriage Act.

“We know that Ms Ward and other LGBTIQ activists see same-sex marriage and Safe Schools as a package deal," he said.

“Australian’s are just beginning to see the consequences for their families of removing gender from the Marriage Act.

“In the United States the LGBTIQ political movement immediately pivoted to ‘safe schools’ type programs targeting toilet and shower use in schools once same-sex marriage was dictated by the Supreme Court.

“In Australia the LGBTIQ political movement, thinking they had already won the same-sex marriage debate, overreached and began rolling out ‘Safe Schools’.

"The removal of Roz Ward signals a temporary walking back so she is no longer a distraction to their campaign to remove gender from marriage.”

Mr Shelton said the Victorian Government still appeared determined to make the program compulsory in state schools by 2018, without consulting parents.

“While the ACL supports anti-bullying programs and is opposed to bullying for any reason whatsoever, it is clear that Safe Schools is more than just about bullying but includes contested gender theories which put some students on a dangerous pathway to changing their sex, action leads to joining a cohort of people with a much higher suicide morbidity than the non-transgendered population,” Mr Shelton said.

"Roz Ward should not be made the scapegoat so that her extreme views about children's gender fluidity can continue to be taught to children," Mr Shelton said.